Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

S01E020: “The Quilt of Hathor: The Awakening”

Wikipedia Plot Summary: Ryan (John D. LeMay) is framed by the town leader, Reverend Josiah Grange (Scott Paulin), as the mastermind of all the killings sect.

Director:Last episode‘s director Timothy Bond returns to helm part two

Writer: Janet Maclean also wraps up her own arc

Famous Guest Star: Bernard Behrens plays Inquisitor Holmes. He would go on to play Van Helsing in Dracula: The Series, which is a thing that existed for a season

Dream a little dream of murder

Cursed Antique of the Week: The Quilt of Hathor continues to let its owner kill others in their dreams

Setting: The Penitite Colony

Best Death: Tie!

Elder Florence (Araby Lockhart)’s eye plucking wouldn’t work because of her glasses and likely wouldn’t have killed her, but the gory aftermath is still enjoyable

Reverend Grange’s slow motion second story fall is a solid end to a despicable character. Friday the 13th sure does love tossing characters out of windows

Quirkiest Add-On: The colony just has a giant stake built and ready to go?

Character Bits: Nada. It’s too tight a timeline for further character development

Corny Finish Line: Nothing verbal, but Ryan awakens with a gasp to the crack of lightning, which is the sound effect used to communicate that the Quilt of Hathor is being used for nefarious purposes

80s Fashion Closet: Sadly this is even worse than last episode, though Ryan does adopt an old-timey hat that makes him look like a day player at a historical reenactment place

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: Yet more overacting from Micki (Louise Robey) when Ryan is put to the stake. Also, her look of affection when she lays the quilt on him in the coda once he’s back at Curious Goods is very telling

Ever feel like you’re having deja vu?

What Works…

Overall this is a fine, albeit unspectacular, wrap up to a two part episode. If you liked the first instalment, you’re apt to enjoy this. We’re provided a little more of the Ryan/Laura (Carolyn Dunn) romance, as well as more action to satisfy audience members who may have fallen asleep themselves in the more slow-paced first half.

The swapping out of villains – Josiah replaces Effie (Kate Trotter) – is disappointing to me (see below), but narratively it probably makes the most sense since there isn’t much further to take Effie, particularly once she and Josiah are married. Plus it’s evident from the start that Josiah isn’t fit to lead, so it’s no big surprise when he seizes the opportunity to take advantage of a cursed evil object for his own personal gain.

Still, it’s all a bit ho-hum.

SO. MUCH. JOSIAH

What Doesn’t Work…

If I’m being honest, I don’t know that this was a story that justified a two-part episode. I found Scott Paulin’s acting to be quite…broad (if we’re being polite) so all of the “God’s will” and other shouty line readings didn’t really do it for me. Since Reverend Grange really takes front and centre stage here, it’s hard to get away from him, which makes the episode that much more difficult to enjoy.

It’s also frustrating that we have another episode that eschews women for a male villain-centered plot. Perhaps the gendered nature of the murders between the two episodes is telling (In part one, Effie murders for love; Grange murders for power in part two) but, again, it winds up coming off as pretty reductive. A part of me is also disappointed that Trotter isn’t given more to do – she basically exists to introduce the quilt, get the ball rolling and then get murdered so that a man can take over.

As for the inclusion of a fiery set piece in each episode — cleansing ritual vs stake, with Micki freaking out in both — this winds up being far too repetitive. It’s almost as though there isn’t quite enough content to fill two whole episodes! Memo to future Friday the 13th writers: it’s not a callback when it just feels like padding.

Finally, I love how Matthew (Diego Matamoros) is completely sidelined once Ryan decides to stay. Isn’t he still engaged to Laura? Why has that changed?!

How does Effie have such a sixth sense about when people are digging through her stuff? She catches Elder Florence in the act and immediately knocks her off because of her Spidey senses

Good gore effect on the blinded eyes, even if Florence’s glasses would have prevented such a poke

Things escalate quickly as the colonists accuse Ryan of witchcraft and Laura of being seduced (both are fair claims, if you wanna be honest)

Reverend Grange hears Ryan’s explanation…then actively chooses to believe (AND MARRY) Effie because he’s known her for longer. This isn’t suspicious at all

Have characters been breaking the fourth wall during the dream sequences the whole time? Josiah looks out at the audience before breaking Effie’s back and killing her

Interestingly the Victorian, fancy dress stuff is apparently how Effie visualizes the quilt, while Josiah has no time for such frivolous things. This is perhaps the most fully realized gender disparity Maclean introduces in the two episodes and it’s quite clever

Micki and Jack make a cameo appearance to announce the hearst has broken down. Thanks for phoning in, guys!

I quite like it when Inquisitor Holmes (Behrens) schools Matthew on being more accepting of Ryan, mostly because Matthew is such a dick

In addition to killing Effie, Grange makes a series of power plays: he convinces Ryan he’s listening to him, he weaves a tale to appease the Inquisitor, then he kicks Ryan out under false pretences. Dude is working this colony like nobody’s business

Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

Writer: Janet Maclean kicks off the first of her two-part stint, but would go on to greater things writing for Danger Bay and Avonlea

Famous Guest Star: Kate Trotter, who plays villainous Effie Stokes, would eventually go on to play Lost Girl‘s The Norn

The quilt of dreams

Cursed Antique of the Week: The Quilt of Hathor let’s the owner kill others in their dreams

Setting: The Penotite Colony

Best Death: Jane Spring (Patricia Strelioff)’s dream death — she plummets two stories over the bannister and through a table to her death — is both beautiful and just the right amount of gory

Quirkiest Add-On: The fiery — and ridiculous — cleansing ritual

Character Bits: We meet Aunt Sarah Good (Helen Carscallen), a relative of Micki (Louise Robey) and Ryan’s, though she is set on fire before episode’s end

Corny Finish Line: “The quilt is a fake” Micki breathes in shock to wrap up the first part of the cliffhanger

80s Fashion Closet: Penotite culture dictates that its members dress conservatively, which limits the fun fashion choices significantly. However, the gaudy faux-Victorian clothing in the dream/murder sequences is quite enjoyable (albeit not period appropriate)

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: The more than Ryan falls in love with Laura, the more hyperbolic Micki becomes. Her orgiastic reactions during the “cleansing” fight are over the top hilarious and provide the clearest evidence yet that Micki is just as enamoured with Ryan as he is with her. Her resigned “Me, too” when Jack (Chris Wiggins) says he’ll miss Ryan is quite pathetic

A fiery (ridiculous) cleanse

What Works…

Perhaps because this is a two parter, the pacing of “The Quilt of Hathor” feels much more relaxed. It’s clear that writer writer Maclean and director Bond are taking the time to ensure that the unusual cultural practices of the Penotites has been firmly established. The actual cursed object comes off as an after-thought as a result; Ryan’s relationship with Laura takes precedent.

While I don’t feel as strongly about this particular storyline as I have about Micki‘s or Jack’s from previous episodes, it is nice to see John D. LeMay given more to do on the series. He rises to the occasion when given an opportunity to dig into more emotional material and while the speed of the storyline doesn’t work for me (more on that below), he and Carolyn Dunn have good chemistry that helps to sell their romantic connection.

Less believable, but far more entertaining, is the completely ridiculous cleansing ceremony involving an elevated fight to the death over a pit of flames. While several of the allusions to the Menonites is incorrect (and even inflammatory), this particular practice is so insane that it surpasses any kind of outrage to stand as one of the most bizarre sequences the series has ever done.

Finally, I must applaud Trotter, who essentially takes a one dimensional villain and elevates her into something interesting. Effie Stokes is a lovesick woman who lashes out at her romantic rivals; it’s the broadest archetype of a woman possible and yet Trotter imbues her old English line readings with subtle malice that makes Effie relatable and fresh. It’s good work in a thankless role.

Menonite Footloose

What Doesn’t Work…

As I mentioned above, I don’t love the Ryan/Laura storyline, if only because their love feels artificially inflated. Not unlike Jack’s rush job in the last episode, things go from a crush to a full-on love affair in the span of just a few hours. Whereas Jack’s relationship had a history that made it slightly more believable, here Ryan simply falls in love impossibly fast.

Micki’s reaction is similarly compacted, which makes her histrionic reaction to Ryan’s emotional distance from her and the case of the week feel over the top. Robey does herself no favours during the cleansing scene; once again it’s as though the actress has been told to play her reactions as big as possible and it comes off looking very amateurish. Not her finest hour, though at least it’s not playing enthralled to a vampire.

The terror of feeding horses is real

Stream of Consciousness Musings

Reverend Josiah Grange (Scott Paulin) is wearing THE worst fake beard I have ever seen on TV. You can literally see the glue lines

The fantasy sequences are among the most interesting visual technique the series has ever attempted. I don’t get the period piece/Victorian dress-up aspect of it, but the cinematography and costuming looks lush and beautiful

Please note that Ryan begins this episode dancing with a headless female mannequin and ends it practically engaged

Sarah Good runs down the ways that Penotites don’t like modern ways. This includes no music, no mirrors, no technology, the requirement to dress conservatively and participate in arranged marriages that are organized when the women are still children. If this is, in fact, taken off real Menonites, only the technology and conservative dress are real rules. The rest is offensive poppycock

Ryan notes that “we live the same way” when Sarah mentions there are punishments for sexual transgressions which…makes no sense

Laura looks distractingly like a young Kate MacKinnon

My main issue with Matthew (Diego Matamoros) is that he’s meant to be so much older than Laura, but he also looks very young and childish

Actual excerpt from my notes: “Oh Jesus, Ryan – no! Don’t sing!” LeMay does not have a good voice, even for something like a lullaby

Reverend Grange reminds me of John Lithgow when he insists that they must shun dance. We’re firmly in Menonite Footloose territory

One of the more interesting things “The Quilt of Hathor” does is find horror not in the cursed object storyline (no one seems particularly upset that people keep dying), but in the relationship storyline. For example: Ryan is stabbed in the arm by Matthew with a pitchfork when he hides in the hay in the barn and the music and direction treats it like it’s the scariest scene in the episode

I like that Ryan is warned that there will be consequences if he doesn’t stay away from Laura and in the very next scene they’re macking IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

Micki’s reactions during the cleansing fight are so fucking extra. I LOVE IT

The oddest moment occurs when Sarah Good accuses Effie of being evil and Effie counters that she (Effie) is…plain? Oh. Good comeback, Priscilla

The line “Who do you wanna call as a witness, the Sandman?” is so, so bad. What a groaner

While Micki’s plea with Ryan to accompany her home really helps cement the core of their relationship, I do love that part of her argument is that he’s too childish to be in love: “You love hot dogs and Saturday morning cartoons”

The fake quilt reveal isn’t the strongest cliffhanger to end the first part on. Prediction: Jack and Micki will have to stop Effie before she kills Laura for attempting to prevent her marriage to Reverend Grange

See you back here later today for Friday The 13th The Series episode twenty: the stunning conclusion of the two-parter, “The Quilt of Hathor: The Awakening”

Now that is what I’m talking about! After spending what seems like the entire second half of the season griping, I’m happy to report that Lost Girl is back in fighting shape in the penultimate episode of its extended second season. The rejuvenation is courtesy partly to a script that doesn’t require our characters to make stupidly impulsive decisions (like last week), but also courtesy of some very welcome guest stars in the form of Vex (Paul Amos) and The Morrigan (Emmanuelle Vaugier).

After just a few days, Lost Girl is back. Whether it’s the lack of time between that great 13th episode and this one, or simply because this episode is all surface and no depth, ‘Midnight Lamp’ is a bust.

Every once in a while, a show will have a bad episode. It’s normal – a fact of life when you’re producing 42-44 minutes of television on a weekly basis. But then every other once in a while, an episode isn’t simply bad; it’s downright awful. These are the episodes that make you think someone should have burned the script and told the actors to take a week off, because clearly something just went horribly, horribly wrong.

Lost Girl steals a page from A Nightmare On Elm Street as Bo (Anna Silk) goes toe to toe with a Dark Fae couple looking to turn her into a dream feast. In true Lost Girl form, however, the inter-personal bits are far more interesting than the villains of the week.